Wrenshall district cuts will be deep

The Wrenshall school board agreed to slightly more than $312,000 in budget cuts during a special meeting Tuesday — the biggest slice of three rounds of cuts to date, totaling $383,000.

The board reiterated during its committee of the whole meeting a day later on Wednesday that it was on its way to $500,000 in cuts, money to cover its current deficit and allow for a modest surplus in the district’s fund balance.

“We still have a lot of information to gather,” board member Eric Ankrum said.

The final figure for cuts has been a moving target, and has increased from earlier figures as low as $300,000, as the district works to account for a lower enrollment which comes with a reduction in state aid money.

Superintendent Kim Belcastro urged the board to reach the $500,000 by making final cuts as soon as Monday’s regular board meeting. But board members balked at that, saying it wasn’t going to happen.

“We want to be sure,” board chair Nicole Krisak said. “By rushing, it would be a really bad idea.”

Contractually, the board has to let teachers know about any layoffs by May 15.

“I’ve been trying to push it to give people knowledge so they can prepare, too,” Belcastro said, referring to more potential layoffs.

On Tuesday, the board cut a series of positions, including its business administrator, who was making $80,000 annually while working 80 percent of a full-time schedule. The board believes it can hire somebody for less than what it was paying.

Among the other reductions was a tenured high school music teacher, making $72,900, who had less seniority than another tenured teacher qualified to teach music. The music teacher being cut will be placed on an unrequested leave of absence, meaning they can be rehired to the staff if there is a teaching opening for which they’re qualified.

Other cuts included:

• A 0.4 science teacher at $33,300.

• An elementary school guidance counselor at $71,900.

• A paraprofessional at $24,150.

• Sixth grade assignment hours which are extra duties with additional pay, totaling $30,000.

Among the prospective cuts considered, but spared by the board so far were the district’s half-time athletic director, and two non-tenured elementary teachers, among some other paraprofessional positions, and the school newspaper, Images.

“I want to see us save (the newspaper) any way we can,” board member Ben Johnson said. The newspaper would come with more than $9,700 in savings, but board members and administration argued Wednesday it was the school’s best marketing tool. The paper is published 10 times a year by students and school staff and is mailed to every household in the Wrenshall and Holyoke area. Board members said it was valued by senior citizens and others who don’t use the internet, as well as young families who move into the district.

“We would not get rid of the paper; that was never on the table,” Krisak said. “If we had to cut there, it would be (down to) digital (only).”

The district began the year with a roughly $6.2 million budget that’s now being drawn down to an estimated $5.7 million.

There was positive news Wednesday, when Belcastro reported a preliminary enrollment for 2023-24 of as many as 352 students, with seven former students projected to return. The current enrollment of 339 fell below last year’s projections of around 350.

“It is a very positive thing right now when looking at projected enrollment,” Belcastro said.

Among the other items at Wednesday’s committee of the whole:

• Athletic director Luke Wargin said that with the end of the winter sports season, the school’s sports coop with Carlton has begun. “We are fully cooped in athletics,” he said, noting that after-school activities were also still joining but behind the pace of sports due to the sheer number of details involved. Spring sports participant numbers between Wrenshall and Carlton were robust, producing the effect the co-op intended. Baseball has 30 participants for junior varsity and varsity teams. Softball has numbers in the high 30s/low 40s, enough for a junior high team along with JV and varsity. Track features 49 athletes, with 18 new students joining what will be a JV and high school program. Wargin called it “heavy participation,” and board members were thrilled.

• Wargin also noted that there are talks going both ways with Moose Lake, Stella Maris Academy in Duluth, and Proctor about cooperative agreements for hockey and soccer. “We lose students because we don’t offer those,” he said. Wargin noted that Cloquet has closed its doors to Wrenshall, with Cloquet reasoning it has maxed out its cooperative sports arrangements using Carlton and Esko for boys and girls hockey and boys soccer.

• Water began to seep into a part of the main school building. Belcastro said she was concerned, calling it “a frightening time,” given the snow-load on the roof. A contractor visited the school this week, and Belcastro said removal may be a necessary expense. The board figures to address the issue further Monday.

• Finally, the district is beginning to look at restructuring how it addresses the district’s information technology support needs. Outside contractors have blown past historically budgeted amounts this year by thousands of dollars, and administration is starting to field quotes from other sources.